The U.S. is moving forward with a criminal investigation into money stolen from a Malaysian state investment fund that allegedly was used to acquire about $1.7 billion in real estate, art, jewelry and other assets.

Court filings by the Justice Department Thursday show the U.S. is escalating its probe in a worldwide effort to track how much of the money that was raised by 1Malaysia Development Bhd. was used to pay for luxury real estate in New York, London and Beverly Hills, AS film productions, private jets, yachts and more.

Justice Department officials asked a judge in Los Angeles to put on hold civil forfeiture lawsuits against assets acquired by Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, and others involved with 1MDB because pursuing these cases may hamper the criminal investigation.

An FBI agent warned in a court filing that information disclosed in the civil cases may reveal “potential targets and subjects of the investigation and the investigative techniques that have been and will be used in the investigation.”

“Such disclosures could result in the destruction of evidence, flight of potential subjects and targets, or the identification and intimidation of potential witnesses,” according to the agent’s declaration.

Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, had no immediate comment on the Justice Department’s filings.

In its civil cases, the U.S. has alleged that from 2009 through 2015, more than $4.5 billion belonging to 1MDB was diverted by high-level officials of the fund and their associates.

The Low assets the U.S. is trying to seize include a stake in New York’s Park Lane Hotel, a $107 million interest in EMI Music Publishing, a $35 million Bombardier Jet and a $30 million penthouse at Time Warner Center in New York.

In a second round of 1MDB-related forfeiture lawsuits filed in June, the Justice Department alleged that a $1.29 million heart-shaped diamond and a $3.8 million diamond pendant Low gave in 2014 to his then-girlfriend, actress Miranda Kerr, were bought with stolen money.

Johari should not bluff that government has not given 1MDB public funds to settle debts, says DAP’s Pua

Media Statement by Tony Pua, DAP National Publicity Secretary and Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 9 August 2017:

Second Finance Minister, Dato’ Seri Johari Abdul Ghani should not bluff Malaysians by stating that the Government “has never given public funds to 1MDB to settle its debts”

According to Bernama yesterday, Second Finance Minister, Dato’ Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said that “the Finance Ministry (MoF) has never given any public funds to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to help settle its debt”.

The Minister must think that Malaysians are complete and utter idiots to be served what is one of biggest piece of cow dung amongst all the attempts to cover up the 1MDB scandal.

The Ministry of Finance has on so many occasions come to the rescue of 1MDB over the past 2 years involving billions of ringgit of tax-payers’ monies, and yet Dato’ Seri Johari has the cheek to tell us that the MoF “has never given any public funds to 1MDB”.

Among the most clear-cut examples are the RM800 million loan from SOCSO and another RM2.4 billion Bandar Malaysia sukuk bond which the MoF have assumed as a result of taking over TRX City Sdn Bhd and Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

The Auditor-General has reported that nearly all of the above proceeds of the 1MDB borrowings were never used for the development of the 2 property projects above. Hence when MoF agreed to take over the property projects and assumed the liabilities, MoF has effectively “settled” 1MDB’s RM3.2 billion debt problem.

What’s more, when 1MDB had originally sold a 60% stake in Bandar Malaysia to an Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) Sdn Bhd-led consortium, they had collected, and presumably spent the RM741 million deposit which has been paid upon the signing of the sale and purchase agreement in December 2015.

However, when MoF terminated the sale due to IWH payment defaults, it was MoF who coughed up the RM741 million to refund the deposit paid by the consortium. If the deposit, should have been refunded at all, it should have been by 1MDB, and not by the Malaysian tax-payers.

The above doesn’t yet include MoF subsidiary or subsidiaries which actually acquired properties from 1MDB in TRX at inflated prices. The irony is, it was MoF who sold the land to 1MDB in the first place at dirt cheap prices.

We understand the conundrum Dato’ Seri Johari Abdul Ghani is facing as the 2nd Finance Minister who has fallen out of favour and having to defend the indefensible regain the Prime Minister’s favour. It is now clear that he has been dropped by Dato’ Seri Najib Razak from handling the 1MDB imbroglio, particularly in the company’s multi-billion dollar dispute with Abu Dhabi’s IPIC.

However, the Second Finance Minister should not go to the extent to telling outright lies to pull the wool over the people’s eyes. Dato’ Seri Johari should not forget his role and responsibility to the people of Malaysia by sacrificing his own integrity and honour.

…more
Johari should not bluff that government has not given 1MDB public funds to settle debts, says DAP’s Pua
August 09, 2017 – theedgemarkets.com

A QUESTION OF BUSINESS | Why does the country need a double-tracked, electrified East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) from Port Klang on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia to Kuantan and Tumpat on the east coast – 688 kilometres, to be built at a massive cost of RM55 billion?

Especially since the earlier double-tracking project from Padang Besar, Perlis to Johor Bharu costing a massive RM36 billion is already one of the greatest, if not the greatest, infrastructure failures in Malaysia ever?

Proceeding with such a dubious project raises many questions over the competency and integrity of the government which awarded this project without a tender process to the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), a China state-owned company which was barred from World Bank projects in 2009 because of alleged fraudulent practices in other countries.

Also, by now, China’s efforts to further its own interests under the One Belt One Road (OBOR) project is now well-known. Many, including this writer, consider it to be a thinly disguised plan using Chinese and other concessional financings which will strengthen China’s role in international trade, industry and connectivity, often at the expense of other countries.

China’s vision for the ECRL seems to be for the link to provide connectivity via rail between Port Klang and Kuantan for cargo to be moved back and forth which will save transport costs for goods headed to and out of China. But at RM55 billion, the number of goods moved has to be astronomical for it to be economically feasible.

Here are 10 reasons why that ECRL project should absolutely not proceed.

1. Economically not feasible. At RM55 billion, it’s the largest infrastructure project ever for Malaysia. If we assume a required 10 percent rate of return on the investment, the ECRL has to generate an income, not revenue, of RM5.5 billion a year. Assuming income is even 20 percent of revenue, then revenue needs to be a massive RM27.5 billion! The impossible task ahead is illustrated by this: In 2016, Singapore’s port had a turnover of S$3.7 billion (RM11.7 billion) and a profit of S$1.2 billion.

2. Earlier RM36 billion double-tracking has failed spectacularly. Let’s look at the utter failure of the RM36 billion double-tracking venture initiated under the Mahathir regime. Rail operator KTM had a revenue of RM1.1 billion in 2016 from which it obtained a cash flow of a mere RM166 million. Revenue is only 3 percent of the cost of double-tracking while operating cash flow is a mere 0.5 percent, not anywhere near enough to cover even interest expenses. For a 10 percent return on costs, cash flow needs to rise over 20 times to RM3.6 billion a year. This is the backbone north-south route of Peninsular Malaysia. How is the ECRL going to fare any better?

3. Expensive. Not only is the ECRL extremely expensive in absolute terms, it is also very expensive in terms of cost per km at RM80 million compared to the Gemas-Johor Bharu double-tracking stretch of RM45 million per km. However, this is not strictly comparable given that the ECRL goes over hilly terrain. But analysis is seriously hampered by the lack of information.

4. Unnecessary. Such a large investment can only be justified if there is a great economic benefit. Economically it will depend on one major customer – China – which is looking to export and import goods more cheaply by ferrying goods between Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan via a rail to cut shipping costs.

5. Does not serve the country’s purpose. Such a move does not serve the country’s purpose but instead represents the diversion of badly needed and scarce resources to a project that could potentially fail and fail big and will benefit China directly.

6. Opportunity for patronage and corruption. By inflating project costs, there are plenty of opportunities for patronage and outright corruption, representing a huge risk to the country and further erosion of government governance and accountability. Reports have flourished saying that amounts from overpricing the contracts could find its way into 1MDB to fill the hole in its debt obligations. Considering that 1MDB is in a rather bad state and needs rescue, such reports cannot be dismissed outright.